Beverage Bottle with Integrated Straw

ABSTRACT

A plastic beverage bottle has an integrated straw through which the user can drink the bottle&#39;s contents. The straw insert follows the contours of the exterior wall of the bottle, so as to minimize intrusion and interference with the flow of liquid in the bottle. Moreover, by hugging the side of the bottle, the straw can be readily engaged by the drinker&#39;s mouth. The drinking end of the straw is located within the interior of the bottle neck, while the rest of the straw runs along the exterior of the bottle in a channel or indentation provided for that purpose.

REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION

This application claims the benefit of the filing date of U.S.provisional patent application No. 62/010,254, filed Jun. 10, 2014.

FIELD OF INVENTION

The present invention relates to the field of beverage containers, andmore particularly to beverage containers with integrated straws.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

Beverages are commonly sold in screw-top plastic bottles, from whichthey are also typically drunk. Drinking directly from the bottle can bedifficult, especially if the drinker is in motion, and often results inspillage. Use of a straw is certainly preferable, but beverage bottlesare not usually sold with straws. Even if the drinker has a straw, itoften tends to fall inside the bottle and is often not long enough toreach the bottom of the bottle.

Consequently, there is a need for a plastic bottle designed with anintegrated straw, which has a fixed position, is accessible from theopen bottle neck, and extends to the bottom of the bottle.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

The present invention is a plastic beverage bottle with an integratedstraw through which the user can drink the bottle's contents. The strawinsert follows the contours of the exterior wall of the bottle, so as tominimize intrusion and interference with the flow of liquid in thebottle. Moreover, by hugging the side of the bottle, the straw can bemost readily engaged by the drinker's mouth, as depicted in FIG. 19.

The proximal drinking end of the straw is located within and almostflush with the mouth of the bottle, as best seen in FIG. 3, while therest of the straw runs along the exterior of the bottle until the distalend of the straw reenters just above the bottom of the bottle, as bestseen in FIG. 11.

The foregoing summarizes the general design features of the presentinvention. In the following sections, specific embodiments of thepresent invention will be described in some detail. These specificembodiments are intended to demonstrate the feasibility of implementingthe present invention in accordance with the general design featuresdiscussed above. Therefore, the detailed descriptions of theseembodiments are offered for illustrative and exemplary purposes only,and they are not intended to limit the scope either of the foregoingsummary description or of the claims which follow.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a top plan view of an integrated-straw beverage bottleaccording to a first embodiment of the present invention, in which thestraw extends downward from the mouth of the bottle through an indentedstraw channel in the exterior wall of the bottle;

FIG. 2 is a side profile view of the integrated-straw beverage bottleaccording to the first embodiment depicted in FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is a cross-section view of the integrated-straw beverage bottleaccording to the first embodiment shown in FIG. 1, taken along the line3-3;

FIGS. 4-6 are top plan views of integrated-straw beverage bottlesaccording to the first embodiment of the present invention, showingthree alternate configurations of the straw;

FIG. 7 is a top plan view of an integrated-straw beverage bottleaccording to a second embodiment of the present invention, in which thestraw is supported in the straw channel by a longitudinal flange;

FIG. 8 is a cross-section view of the integrated-straw beverage bottleaccording to the second embodiment shown in FIG. 9, taken along the line8-8;

FIG. 9 is a cross-section view of the integrated-straw beverage bottleaccording to the second embodiment depicted in FIG. 7, taken along theline 9-9;

FIG. 10 is a side profile view of the integrated-straw beverage bottleaccording to the second embodiment depicted in FIG. 7;

FIG. 11 is a cross-section view of the integrated-straw beverage bottleaccording to the third embodiment, taken along the line 11-11 shown inFIG. 12;

FIG. 12 is a top plan view of an integrated-straw beverage bottleaccording to the third embodiment;

FIG. 13 is a cross-section view of the integrated-straw beverage bottleaccording to the third embodiment shown in FIG. 11, taken along the line13-13;

FIG. 14 is a cross-section view of the integrated-straw beverage bottleaccording to the fourth embodiment, taken along the line 14-14 shown inFIG. 15;

FIG. 15 is a top plan view of an integrated-straw beverage bottleaccording to the fourth embodiment;

FIG. 16 is a cross-section view of the integrated-straw beverage bottleaccording to the fifth embodiment, taken along the line 16-16 shown inFIG. 17;

FIG. 17 is a top plan view of an integrated-straw beverage bottleaccording to the fifth embodiment; and

FIG. 18 is a cross-section view of the integrated-straw beverage bottleaccording to the fifth embodiment shown in FIG. 16, taken along the line18-18.

FIG. 19 is an illustration of a person drinking from an integrated-strawbeverage bottle according to the first embodiment of the presentinvention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT

Referring to FIGS. 1-3, a first embodiment of the present invention 10comprises a plastic bottle 11 having a substantially cylindrical neck12, which flares out into a larger diameter body 13, also substantiallycylindrical and terminating in a substantially flat or slightly concavebottom 14.

A substantially tubular straw 15 extends within the interior of thebottle from less than ¼ inch below the mouth 16 of the bottle 11, alongthe outer contours of the neck 12 and the body 13, to less than ¼ inchabove the bottom 14, where the straw 15 terminates.

FIGS. 4-6 depict three alternate configurations of the straw 15 withrespect to the mouth 16 of the bottle 11.

Referring to FIGS. 7-10, a second embodiment of the present invention 10comprises the same components as the first embodiment, except that theexterior of the neck 12 and the body 13 of the bottle 11 have anindented channel 17 with a longitudinal flange, which supports the straw15 as it extends from just below the mouth 16 to just above the bottom14 of the bottle 11.

Referring to FIGS. 11-13, a third embodiment of the present invention 10has a substantially rectangular body 13. On one side of the neck 12 andthe body 13 extends a longitudinal flange 18, which supports the straw15 as it extends from just below the mouth 16 to just above the bottom14 of the bottle 11.

Referring to FIGS. 14 and 15, a fourth embodiment of the presentinvention 10 has a substantially rectangular body 13 with a handle 19.In this embodiment, the straw 15, supported by the longitudinal flange18, forms the handle 19 of the bottle 11.

Referring to FIGS. 16-18, a fifth embodiment of the present invention 10has a semi-circular body 13. The straw 15 extends through an exteriorlongitudinal flange 18 from just below the mouth 16 to just above thebottom 14 of the bottle 11.

In FIG. 19, a person is drinking from an integrated-straw bottle 11 ofthe first embodiment type, by tipping the bottle 11 slightly toward herand lifting the straw 15 to her mouth.

Although the preferred embodiments of the present invention have beendisclosed for illustrative purposes, those skilled in the art willappreciate that many additions, modifications and substitutions arepossible, without departing from the scope and spirit of the presentinvention.

What is claimed:
 1. A beverage container comprising: a bottle having anopen bottle mouth and, below the mouth, a substantially cylindricalbottle neck, which transitions into a larger diameter bottle body, whichterminates in a substantially flat or concave bottle bottom, wherein thebottle neck and the bottle body together define an interior bottlecontour and an exterior bottle contour; a substantially tubularintegrated drinking straw, having an open proximal end located insidethe bottle neck and proximate to the bottle mouth, and having an opendistal end located inside the bottle body and proximate to the bottlebottom, wherein the drinking straw extends longitudinally along theexterior bottle contour, from the bottle neck, within a quarter-inch ofthe mouth, to within a quarter-inch of the bottle bottom.
 2. Thebeverage container of claim 1, wherein the bottle neck and the bottlebody together define, within the exterior body contour, an indentedlongitudinal straw channel, and wherein the drinking straw extendsthrough the straw channel from the bottle neck, within a quarter-inch ofthe mouth, to within a quarter-inch of the bottle bottom.
 3. Thebeverage container of claim 2, wherein the drinking straw is supportedwithin the straw channel by a longitudinal flange extending orthogonallyfrom the straw channel.
 4. The beverage container of claim 1, whereinthe drinking straw is supported by a longitudinal flange extendingorthogonally from the exterior bottle contour.
 5. The beverage containerof claim 4, wherein the drinking straw and the exterior bottle contourtogether define an oblong handle aperture, and wherein the drinkingstraw extends around the handle aperture so as to define a bottlehandle.